Staff report

Kimesha Houston Alvarado is seeking the Ward 5 seat on the Selma City Council held by the incumbent Sam Randolph. Alvarado is a radio personality, also known as &8220;Sunshine,&8221; on WBFZ 105.3. She pledges to bring a spirit of cooperation to the city. She sees a need for change. In Ward 5, Alvarado would like to see community centers in the area. &8220;Our youth need more positive influences in their lives and have a safe place to hang out, instead of the streets,&8221; she said. Ward 5 needs more police protection, the candidate added. &8220;Elderly residents have consistently been victims of crime in Ward 5, and we need to make sure they feel and are safe,&8221; Alvarado said. A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Alvarado has close ties to Selma. Her mother, Lilli Mae Smith Jones is from Dallas County, and her father, Paul Houston, is from Autauga County.

Her grandparents, the Rev. A.D. Smith and Alma Smith, still live in the city. She is a 1991 graduate of Selma High School. Alvarado left Selma in 1993 and joined the Navy, where she served for six years, earning two medals for good conduct. She later served six years as a member of the Maryland Air National Guard, earning two Air Force achievement medals and three accommodation medals. She has an associate&8217;s degree

in logistics and a bachelor&8217;s degree in business administration with a concentration in information systems from Bowie State University in Maryland. Alvarado returned to Selma in 2005. She has worked as a community liaison for state Sen. Hank Sanders. She also is a member of The Black Belt Action Commission, National Voting Rights Museum and Institute Jubilee Coordinating Committee, Black Belt Education Coalition, and is founder of the Youth Leadership Coalition. She has a 10-year-old son. They are members of Ellwood Community Church.